


lovers are a day

by mellowie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Drabble Collection, Fireworks, Fluff, Heist, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 14:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21254888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellowie/pseuds/mellowie
Summary: self-contained pieces in a JohnDo universe, wherein each prompt of the day, one of them is always in love with the other. whether they realize it or not, though, is a different matter.





	lovers are a day

**Author's Note:**

> hi, i'm so glad to be able to indulge in johndo for Johntober! below are six little drabbles that may or may not be connected to one another, but they all center around Johnny and Doyoung's moments together in their lives. 
> 
> (also the title of this fic is inspired by the song 'Lover is a Day' by CUCO!)

Day 13: big sweater 

_ No matter how big or small a sweater is, there’s always room for two. _

It took Johnny a good ten minutes to find an opening for his head to poke out of. He looked down at himself, but could barely see his feet beyond all the wool. His hands are buried in heavy sleeves. He felt more like a walking brown ball of fluff.

“Doyoung-ah…” Johnny searched for the right teasing words to make up for his reaction, and stopped when he saw the other boy's expression. 

Doyoung, who had been watching Johnny squirm his way into the sweater the whole time, was wincing at his entire look.

“Ugh, just take it off,” Doyoung said.

“Why would I want to take it off?” Johnny cocked his head innocently. 

“You don’t have to force yourself to be nice,” Doyoung said, and then lowered his eyes to the floor, worried that he sounded snappier than intended. “I...I just wanted to make you a new sweater after your favorite one shrunk in the laundry. But I didn’t know it would turn out like..._ this… _” He bit his lips. “And after you had looked forward to it so much...I’m sorry.”

Sadness poured out of Doyoung’s voice, filling in the space between them. Johnny could never bear seeing Doyoung so crushed. He wasn’t going to let it pass. He wouldn’t.

“Well, I don’t know what you mean by a mistake,” Johnny said with a firm confidence. “It fits perfectly.”

“What?” Doyoung shot him an incredulous look. “No, it doesn’t!”

“It fits _ us_,” Johnny grinned. He spread his arms wide, the unoccupied space loosening from his body, welcoming Doyoung to join inside.

That took Doyoung completely off guard. He went speechless for a moment, but once he got it, he covered his mouth with his hand, unable to contain his burst of laughter.

“Pfft-! We’re not kids anymore, hyung!" 

“Eh? But don’t we used to do it like this back then?”

“That was because I...! Oh, never mind, you’re still so silly as always…”

“So what if I am, Doyougie? I’m still waiting. Are you going to leave me hanging out here all alone~?”

“...Fine.” 

Doyoung stepped forward, closing their distance. Johnny lifted the bottom of the sweater up for him. Sounds of scuffling. Familiar strong hands guided Doyoung to the top. He emerged into the air, wide-eyed, surprised at how much the sweater could stretch to accommodate the two of them, and how it resulted in their bodies pressed together so tightly. Johnny beamed.

“See? We fit."

Doyoung could feel Johnny’s breath tickling his cheek. “Yeah, we do,” he smiled. He closed his eyes and snuggled his head into the older boy’s shoulder. Johnny wrapped his woolly arms around Doyoung. They stayed peacefully like that, embracing each other's company.

“...You still remember back then?” Doyoung asked without looking up.

“Of course I do,” Johnny said. “I could already picture it. A cute, shy little boy coming into the classroom wearing this gigantic sweater that looked as though it was swallowing him up...”

“It was all your fault,” Doyoung protested, burying his head into Johnny’s neck to hide his reddening cheeks. “You made me wear that in front of everyone just because I lost at rock-paper-scissors...”

“To be more precise, it was the _ first _ time you lost against me at rock-paper-scissors,” Johnny said. “So I had to choose the dare carefully. But I wasn’t happy just because I won. Did you miss the point I made about the boy being all cute in that giant sweater? It was one of the best things I ever did.”

Doyoung groaned, rubbing his head against Johnny’s neck, making him laugh. 

“Even now," Doyoung sounded slightly muffled from his shyness. "I didn’t expect you to do what you did."

“You mean when I went up to you and offered to share the sweater, and after much intense arguing and arm wrestling, you finally let me into the sweater with you? Something like what we’re doing right now?”

“...I thought you were making fun of me.”

“Maybe I was, a little. But I felt bad after a while. Most of all, I remember being really surprised at your tenacity. I thought you would at least whine, complain, or do something about being stuck in that hideous sweater. But you stuck with it even till lunch break. You didn’t hate me for it either. You carried on as usual, even when everyone was asking and saying all those things,” Johnny’s expression softened. “I just felt that it was...admirable of you.”

Doyoung listened to Johnny, feeling the thumping of his heartbeat.

“I think I was just stubborn.”

“I think so too. You still are, though.”

“Ha...Anyway, thanks for joining in and laughing it off like that. I...actually had fun.”

“Me too! And everyone laughed, seeing the two of us bumbling around. But it was all in good humor," Johnny agreed. "Ah, such good times.”

“We also had to return the sweater after that,” Doyoung reminded him.

“Oh, right. Still can’t remember where I got it from...” 

Doyoung laughed, clinging onto Johnny. Johnny smiled and held him close, stroking his hair with infinite tenderness.

“I guess that’s how I came to like oversized sweaters,” Doyoung’s voice softened into a whisper.

“Yeah,” Johnny said, resting his forehead against Doyoung’s. “And I guess that’s how I came to like you.”

Day 26: sunflower 

Meeting on soft early mornings in their school uniforms, retreating to the back of the bus for a promise of a world only between them, Johnny treasured such moments with Doyoung. Most of the time, though, Doyoung would barely be able to keep his eyes open throughout the ride.

“How do you get so much energy this early…?” Doyoung grumbled, wrinkling his nose in a way that Johnny secretly adored. 

Johnny just laughed as usual. Maybe he would say the truth someday. He had a feeling it would be too cheesy if he answered that being able to spend the first thing in the morning with Doyoung was the reason behind his enthusiasm.

As always, Johnny rummaged through his bag and offered Doyoung the other half of his earpiece. Doyoung took it without looking as if it was second nature. They huddled together, sharing each other’s warmth, listening to songs that brought their hearts closer. Doyoung rest his head on Johnny’s shoulder and closed his eyes. His bed hair was already messy enough. Johnny still liked to run his hands through it, thinking that his efforts to smoothen it worked.

The bus carried them on to school. Johnny shuffled through the playlist of his MP3 with one hand, searching for the right song to express this precious moment before it could slip away. His finger found it and pressed ‘play’. Satisfied, he leaned against Doyoung, their breaths falling into the same rhythm. He wished for this feeling to last forever. 

_You’re a sunflower, _Johnny hummed the lyrics just as the bus passed by the trees, emerging in the morning light and bathing Doyoung’s sleeping face in an orange glow. Johnny beamed as brightly as the sunlight enveloping them. _You’re a sunflower._

Day 1: confetti 

After the much-anticipation explosion came deafening cheers, feisty punches into the smoky air, and a fast pace of music. Showers of tiny colorful confetti twinkled in the blinking lights. They rained down on him in sprinkles, sticking to his ash-dyed hair, landing on his wide shoulders, peeking down his plaid shirt in which the top few buttons had come undone for the night. 

He gathered the pieces that drifted aimlessly into his cupped hands. Raising his arms towards the sky, he opened his palms and released them into the wind. The pieces picked up flight, scattering higher and further to reach new places.

As though it had been lying in wait all along, a deep reverberation from the stereo pierced the atmosphere. Heads bobbed. Voices raved and strained. Bodies hopped from one spot to another, never staying still. His heart yearned to savor every addictive beat, remember every impact, but each second he let linger was another second lost. 

Nothing could last forever; he knew that too well. Yet, he could be certain that the surge of emotions coursing through his veins meant something. Just this once.

On that precious midsummer night, Doyoung turned towards his Johnny hyung and tiptoed up to eye level. He struggled to find the words for his immense gratitude, however, so he settled for a fluttering kiss instead.

“...Doyoung-ah,” Johnny finally spoke after staring at Doyoung blankly like a statue. “If you do that again, I think my heart will explode even bigger than the confetti.”

“I-I’m pretty shocked myself! I just felt a rush and then-!”

“Acting on a rush? That’s interesting. I don’t mind the Doyoungie who acts like this every now and then.”

“...Argh, stop teasing.”

“It’s true! I really like…Wait,” Johnny turned serious. “Don’t move.”

“What is it? Eh-?” Doyoung nearly flinched. “W-why are you coming so close?” 

“Here,” Johnny pulled back his hand. “You got confetti on your hair.”

“Oh,” Doyoung did a little cough, trying to cool down the heat in his cheeks. “Thanks.”

“I think a few of them went into your shirt just now too,” Johnny said.

“Ah!” Doyoung glanced down, tugging at the collar of his shirt for a better look. “Yeah, you’re right...”

“You don’t have to take them out right now,” Johnny said gently, his smile soft and his shoulders lax as he shrugged. “There are still so many things for us to do later in the night, after all.”

Day 8: underwater 

_ a fear of gaps _

So far, in all of the short years that Doyoung had lived, nothing else made his heart pound and blood rush in his ears so fiercely. He felt like a heroine in a shoujo manga with their exaggerated _ ba-dum ba-dum _sound effects.

Except if you replaced the anticipation of a love interest with sheer terror paralyzing him down to the core from the mere whiff of chlorine.

It shouldn’t have been so hard. The body of water reached around his shoulders. He could plant the soles of his feet on the floor. This was the most crucial part. To be able to feel the bottom of the pool allowed him to regain some sense of control over the water every time he messed up a practice.

The problem was lifting his feet off long enough to actually _ swim_.

Thankfully, he wasn’t facing it alone. There was a certain boy, older than him by a year and much taller, who he could count on for help.

In fact, the very same boy was leaning over to look down earnestly at him from the ledge.

“Doyoung-ah, have you learned to hold your breath?” Johnny asked. “You’ve done the _ umpah umpah_?”

Doyoung didn’t reply right away. He was more eager to prove it, and demonstrated by holding his breath underwater and coming back up repeatedly- _ Um, pah! Um, pah! _

“Ooo, good job, Doyoungie!” Johnny clapped as though Doyoung’s achievement was shared with him. “Now you can move on to the beginner strokes!”

Rather than getting excited with him, Doyoung looked at Johnny in the same way he tried to hold in his screams during a horror movie.

“Don’t worry, you can always take it one step at a time,” Johnny immediately reassured him. “But have you been taught any new moves?”

Doyoung did learn something new in the previous week. The one that had the word ‘frog’ in it. Only that he failed miserably in his first few tries and would never attempt to do it again in front of someone he admired like Johnny unless he wanted to embarrass himself.

“Can you show me?” Johnny asked.

_ ‘No, never!’ _ would be the answer that Doyoung would have normally given if he didn’t place that much trust in Johnny to not laugh.

And so, Doyoung tried to recall the steps he was supposed to take, and the order he was supposed to perform them. He readied his initial position. Palms outward, spreading of hands, pushing the water towards the back, and then...

Wait, shouldn’t his legs be doing something at this point too? Or was it after he had completed the arm thrust?

Whichever the sequence, the force of the waves wasn’t taking kindly to his mistake. Doyoung inadvertently missed the timing, jumbled his movements, and scrambled to set his feet safely on the hard floor of the pool. Relief flooded through him like it always did when he could recover his footing quickly.

Then he remembered that Johnny was watching him the entire time. 

Doyoung looked up towards the ledge. Johnny didn’t say anything. Instead of being amused or anything, he seemed to be seriously deep in thought, staring at Doyoung and rubbing his chin with his hand.

“Doyoung, wait there. I’ll come down to help you.”

Doyoung watched as Johnny slip into the water so naturally one might think he was born with the sea. After each graceful stroke, he reached Doyoung and raised above the waters to stand in front of him, and that’s when Doyoung noticed how his eye level reached the older boy’s bare chest.

His broad, slightly muscular physique that was building along well.

Has Johnny grown this much since first grade? Doyoung hadn’t taken much notice until now. Even after moving on to middle school, he didn’t think much about how their bodies are growing at different rates. 

It struck him with a sharp pang that he couldn’t quite comprehend.

Doyoung looked at Johnny through his watery swim goggles. Johnny wasn’t even wearing any.

“From when I’ve observed, you need to relax in the water,” Johnny said. The waves flowed so much calmer in his presence. “You’re afraid to take off your feet, right? Don’t worry, it’s perfectly fine when you’re just starting out. For now, let’s take it slow.”

Johnny began to guide him in a swimming exercise.

“Lie flat on the water, facedown...Good, good. Now reach your hands out. Yes, like that. I’ll pull you along while you try to paddle, okay?”

Doyoung was unable to nod or speak while his face was submerged underwater, so he squeezed Johnny’s wrist in response.

“Stay calm, I got you,” Johnny said whenever Doyoung hesitated. He spoke so kindly. Johnny’s endless patience with Doyoung never failed to surprise him. It effectively put his fears at ease, but deep down, he knew the truth for a long time.

He couldn’t hold on to Johnny forever. Because Johnny couldn't stay to teach him how to swim on his own all the time.

To join Johnny in the larger neighboring pool, the one that adults use and where his feet could never reach the bottom, he needed to move on.

To move on, Doyoung needed to trust the water more than he trusted Johnny.

Doyoung gripped Johnny’s hands one last time, and let go.

Day 18: shattered

Bits of shattered glass crunched under his loafer shoes. It reminded him of when he munched on his breakfast cereal without milk. He considered himself the rare few among his peers who enjoyed it without milk. It also reminded him that the cereal was running out. He would have to buy more at the grocery store tomorrow morning.

_ If _ he lived to see tomorrow morning.

He needed to get out of there first.

Johnny was calm. He was always calm. Heists like this never scare him. A few close shaves to death, or even worse, arrests, here and there but never any real threats.

Unlike tonight.

Discovering for the first time how it felt like to have someone see through all your ploys and keep up with your steps, Johnny didn’t detest it like he thought he would. In fact, he relished in it, like when one tasted the rain after being holed up inside for ages. 

It must be because of that new detective.

_ Speaking of which_, Johnny smirked, _ there he is. _

He could hear a different kind of crunch on the glass. Behind him, the detective must be catching up. Johnny tucked the red box containing the world’s greatest treasure away in his jacket as he turned the corner. His feet swept across the ground like a phantom, casting long shadows on the walls.

When he reached the top of the stairs, the door to the rooftop would usually be locked, but Johnny knew a trick or two. He simply rammed the door open. The howling wind greeted him and he pushed his way towards the ledge.

Johnny could make this night out alive, but the detective was already there when he looked over his shoulder.

After all that running, leaping and hiding, Johnny could see the other man’s features more distinctly now. They were rather soft, almost as delicate as the glass he had broken to steal the treasure. How could someone who looked as though he wouldn’t hurt a fly be the same person who caught him faster than the police could for months? Johnny wasn’t in a position to ask, but it did make him a little curious.

The detective pointed a gun at him. Johnny held his hands up. He still found no need for panic yet as he had his smoke bomb around his belt. All he really needed was to edge back towards the ledge and to buy more time.

“Looks like you got me now,” Johnny said. “Took you long enough, huh?”

The detective remained unfazed, his gaze focused on Johnny with an expression that Johnny couldn’t read even in the dim moonlight.

“I see, not much for talking, uh… What was your name again?” Johnny tried to recall the glimpse of the badge on the detective’s coat when he had passed by him in his civilian disguise. “Do...Doyoung?”

“It’s Dongyoung,” the detective said, the gun never leaving Johnny.

“Ah...I prefer Doyoung, though,” Johnny said with a smile. That part was true, at least.

_ “Where are you now? Have you got the Parrot?” _A gruff voice from Doyoung’s pocket interrupted them. 

Doyoung’s eyes flickered to his radio, and in that split second, Johnny reached for his smoke bomb, prepared his lines to salute the detective goodbye, ready to jump off the roof and make his escape, when...

“I’m inside the building,” Doyoung said calmly after a pause. “I nearly had him, but he was faster. He escaped through the window.”

Johnny’s hand froze.

_ “Alright, we are on the opposite street. Return to the office when you’re done. That Parrot can run all he wants, but we’ll get him someday,” _ the voice continued, disgruntled, then cut off.

Doyoung looked back at Johnny, dropping his gun. Johnny could leave right there and then, but his numbed legs weren’t listening to him, and his heart was thumping out loud.

“Johnny,” Doyoung said, a tinge of worry in his voice. Hearing his real name from someone he barely knew stunned him more than a taser could. The detective held out not a gun or any kind of weapon, but his hand. “Please, will you come with me?”

Day 25: fireworks 

Colorful lights sprayed in the night sky, shimmering in trails like fairy lights. 

Everyone around them, be it couples, families or singles, were focused on the bright sky. But Doyoung wasn’t looking up. His attention was on how the light illuminated Johnny’s awestruck expression from his side profile each time the fireworks explode.

_Come on, you’ve waited for this very moment for the entire day, _ Doyoung prepped himself. _ It’s now or never. _

It didn’t help that his heart was beating like crazy and he was having an absolute twist of nerves. 

“J-Johnny hyung!”

Doyoung yelled as loudly as he could over the roar of the fireworks. Johnny’s gaze was still transfixed towards the sky. A pause. Johnny turned to Doyoung, his eyes sparkling.

“Doyoungie, it’s so amazing!”

Johnny’s words were nearly drowned out by the thunderous release of more fireworks and they weren’t what Doyoung expected. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm, his brilliant smile, was always so infectious.

“Hyung, I...I have something to tell you!”

Doyoung pushed on, feeling as though his breath was already running out.

To his relief, Johnny raised his brows, signifying that he had caught what Doyoung said. He raised a hand to his ear and shouted, “WHAT?” This somehow reminded Doyoung of a moment when he tried to speak to his hard-of-hearing grandfather.

Doyoung mustered all his strength in his vocal cords to scream over the fireworks. All that training in late nights in his room alone didn’t go to waste.

“I LIKE YOU!”

As if he had cast a spell for a miracle, the fireworks ceased. Everything was quiet. Johnny stared at Doyoung just as the last spark of light traced down the sky and the world returned to darkness again.

_ Did he manage to hear me? Was I loud enough? But the timing was right around when the fireworks stopped, so I can’t be sure… _

Doyoung’s thoughts whirled in his head as every cell in his body froze in anticipation of Johnny’s response. He couldn’t even face Johnny to know what kind of expression he was wearing right now. 

_ But what’s taking Johnny hyung so long to reply? Don’t tell me he really- _

“Doyoungie-ah,” Johnny said, placing a hand on Doyoung’s shoulder and causing the other boy to jump like a frightened rabbit.

“You know what?” Johnny smiled. “Me...too!” He gave him a thumbs up.

_ Eh? _

Doyoung gaped at Johnny. The older boy laughed, the same tinkling laughter he usually does around Doyoung, as though things were back to normal again. Then he turned back to the sky where the vast sea of stars was starting to appear behind the passing clouds.

Doyoung couldn’t focus on anything else, though.

_ Wait, wait, wait. Did Johnny really mean it? But why does he sound so unsure? Who even gives a thumbs up to something like that? Is he toying with me? Arrgghh I can’t tell and I can’t even ask… _

Doyoung writhed in internal agony._ Suh Youngho, you’re driving me crazy…! _

Beside him, the oblivious Johnny was fanning himself with the paper fan, enjoying the cooling wind on his face_._

_Hmm, why would Doyoungie say “I like wool” at that moment? _Johnny wondered. _I know he can be weird sometimes but… Wait, did he meant he wanted something made of wool? Ah, right, it must be that coat from that shop...He couldn’t stop thinking about it, could he? He could have just said so earlier, I’ll just get him that tomorrow. H_e smiled proudly to himself. _Heh,__ I can’t wait to see the look on his face!_


End file.
